Deputy arrested after DUI crash injuring wife

ESCALON - A San Joaquin County sheriff's deputy was arrested and placed on administrative leave after being involved in a drunken-driving crash in Escalon that badly injured his wife, authorities said Thursday.

ESCALON - A San Joaquin County sheriff's deputy was arrested and placed on administrative leave after being involved in a drunken-driving crash in Escalon that badly injured his wife, authorities said Thursday.

Deputy Clinton Sizeula, 35, was arrested following a single-vehicle accident about 2:20 a.m. Sept. 27 on Escalon Bellota Road just north of Libby Drive, said Sgt. Milt Medeiros, acting chief of police for the Escalon Police Department. Sizeula has been placed on administrative leave, said Deputy Les Garcia, a spokesman for the San Joaquin County Sheriff's Office.

Sizeula sustained a laceration to the forehead and a concussion when he rolled his vehicle onto its side and it struck a tree in a center median, Medeiros said. Sizeula's wife suffered a severe laceration to the forehead, a small laceration to her liver, a potential fracture to her left hip, a broken nose, and multiple cuts and bruises, authorities said.

The Escalon Police Department, the Escalon Fire Protection District and paramedics responded to the scene, Medeiros said. Both occupants had to be extracted from the vehicle before they could be taken to a hospital for treatment.

Sizeula consented to a Breathalyzer at the hospital and was then arrested on suspicion of driving under the influence of drugs or alcohol resulting in injury, police said. Medeiros said he could not disclose Sizeula's blood-alcohol content, but "there was enough of a result for us to go forward with the charges," he said.

Medeiros noted that Sizeula cooperated with officers.

"Throughout the entire investigation, the driver was very cooperative with law enforcement," Medeiros said.

Authorities said the case has been referred to the San Joaquin County District Attorney's Office for review. The District Attorney's Office will decide whether to file charges, Medeiros said.